The Hunter's Alpha

16 Vampire

Amber

I was glad when Sarah was finally ready to leave. Her friends decided to make their own ways home, and we jumped in an uber together. My mind was a dizzy mess from the alcohol buildup my liver was struggling to process.

Sarah talked to the cabbie and she chatted with me enthusiastically, but my answers were half-hearted. I still had questions that I could not figure out how to put into words. Even if I could, I already knew Sarah's take on her cousin.

By the time we made our way across town, I was feeling a bit more sober, but not more clear minded. My head was still swirling with my conversation with the woman in the washroom as we tromped into our apartment.

I had deliberately left him, but had that been the wrong thing to do? He probably hated me now. Or would he?

Sarah was wandering around the kitchen and ran herself a glass of water. "That guy is bad news."

I pulled my mind away from the alpha. She couldn't have been talking about him, right? "What?"

"The one who you gave your number to, Amber," Sarah said, sounding slightly exasperated.

I had nearly forgotten about him, my thoughts all centered on someone else. "Why's that?"

"He's a vampire. Didn't the hunters teach you anything?"

"Very little. Mostly how to do chores and act as invisible as possible. Oh, and the glorious destiny of the hunters. They were big on that one."

"Well, he smelled like nothing, and he was creepily quiet and steady. Definitely a vampire."

I shrugged. "He seemed nice enough."

She scoffed. "You talked to him for like three seconds."

"Yeah, because you came and scared him off."

"If I hadn't, he'd probably be sucking you dry right now."

I scowled. "I wasn't going to go with him anywhere."

She filled another glass of water and set it down in front of me. "I know that, but you're a human. You've got no resistance to his sort. He could have done anything he wanted to you. They can use compulsion on the weak."

"I don't think he was threatening me. I am allowed to talk to whoever I want, aren't I?" I watched her carefully to gauge her reaction.

She frowned. "Of course you are, but..." She trailed off with a sigh. "Just promise me you'll be careful. Your wellbeing doesn't only affect yourself, you know?"

"No, I don't." I said stubbornly. Was she implying what I thought she was implying? We never talked about him, and again I questioned whether she was my friend at all or just a sentry on watch duty.

She looked like she did not want to bring it up, and I stared her down. Finally, she relented. "I don't want to pressure you, but if something happens to you, my cousin won't take it well."

And there it was. "So, that's the only reason you're here, then?" I couldn't help but feel hurt. She acted so genuinely friendly, but was it all an act?

She looked like a deer caught in headlights, completely unprepared, as if the question hadn't been hanging between us during the months we'd been in the human world. "No, of course not. I came to support you, and also because I wanted some time to explore away from the pack." She hesitated and then added, "It's probably the reason he allowed it so easily, though."

And there it was, a reminder that the pack and the alpha and my bond to him were just another cage like the rule of the hunters. I didn't want that, even if the ridiculous connection was trying to pull me back towards him. It was the perfect reminder that the way he kept invading my dreams and the way that I missed him was all a part of the oppressive bond between us. A bond neither of us had asked for.